Group has been inactive since Adam Yauch passed away in 2012

But earlier this week, Mike D and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the Beastie Boys name in conjunction with "live performances by a musical group," as lawyer David Lizerbram points out. You can find the legal document here.

According to Lizerbram, the application seems to point to some kind of reunion and live performance. However, as he writes, "it’s possible that their attorney (who signed the application on their behalf) filed this application for some other reason that we don’t know of, or that it was filed in error."

Update: A representative says: "There will never be Beastie Boys live performances without Adam Yauch."